Rookie Davis leads Celtics past Pistons

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- In one of the top regular-season matchups in years, an unlikely player was the difference.

Just like the last time Boston played Detroit.

Rookie Glen Davis scored a career-high 20 points, giving the Celtics’ Big Three a huge lift in a 92-85 win over Detroit on Saturday night in a marquee matchup that lived up to its billing.

For the first time this season, the Celtics’ leading scorer was not Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.

“They were stopping me and stepping up against Ray and Garnett,” Pierce said. “And, that left [Davis] open.”

Like Davis, Lindsey Hunter came off the bench and his feisty defense proved to be the pivotal factor in Detroit’s 87-85 win on Dec. 19 at Boston.

Pistons Coach Flip Saunders chose to keep Hunter inactive because he wants rookie Rodney Stuckey to gain experience for a possible matchup with the Celtics that will really matter.

Stuckey, Davis and everybody else on the court this night in January got a sense of what the Eastern Conference finals might be like.

“It feels real good to contribute in a big game like this,” Davis said. “But we can’t get too excited. This isn’t the last time we’re going to see this team.”

Even though the NBA-leading Celtics (29-3) are off to a dominant start, Coach Doc Rivers said it was important to beat the Pistons, who advanced to the last five conference finals, won the 2004 title and gave Boston its only loss at home.

“Our players needed this,” Rivers said. “We needed to return the favor.”

Boston and Detroit entered the game with a combined winning percentage of .844, the third-highest in the shot clock era after at least 30 games.

For the first time since 1981, two teams entered a game on Jan. 5 with a combined 54 wins. For the first time since 2000, two teams played with each riding at least an eight-game winning streak.

“It was a fun game, and we got excited,” Rivers acknowledged.

The Celtics extended their winning streak, which started after losing to Detroit at home, to nine games, and ended Detroit’s run at 11.

“They’re a little more happy than we were when we won our game at their place,” Chauncey Billups said. “It was just a regular game for us with two good teams playing. They were kind of playing like it was the Super Bowl.

“There was probably a little more at stake for them and their psyche than it was for us.”